Human rights guarantees in Polish local government: analysis of constitutional apects

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increasing emphasis on respecting human rights and protecting individual freedoms. In this context, the role of local government units in ensuring these rights becomes particularly important. The performance of public tasks by local government officials directly affects the quality of life of the residents of a given municipality, while also potentially affecting the respect for their human rights. The state fulfills its public tasks, among other things, through administration, which has specific structures at both the central and territorial levels. Territorial administration includes units directly carrying out orders and guidelines from central authorities or entities that carry out entrusted public tasks in their own name and on their own responsibility. The second type of state task implementation in the field is called local government. The division of state administration into central administration and local government is characteristic of most democratic countries. The current model of local government in Poland has been shaped since 1989 and is one of many effects of the country’s political transformation. The aim of the article is to draw attention to the key aspects of the performance of public tasks by local government units in the context of human rights protection.